Through the years, UN Volunteers have been on the frontlines of global health crisis campaigns worldwide. This wealth of experience makes UN Volunteers ready to support vaccine rollout campaigns, as part of the COVID-19 response.

An estimated 1.7 million women and girls of reproductive age have been forcibly displaced in northeastern Nigeria due to a violent insurgency led by fundamentalist extremists. Blessing and Aisha serve in a Women's Empowerment Hub project established by UN Women to help some of those women regain decent life.

Through its digital transformation, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is enabling the use of software robotics. This is intended to help with routine, repetitive tasks and increase data quality and efficiency of data entry in the assignment and contract management of UN Volunteers. We are using UiPath technology to achieve increased compliance, consistency and productivity through robotic automation.

In 2020 The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme achieved gender parity among all deployed UN Volunteers. As frontline responders or communications experts, national or international - these women UN Volunteers are making critical contributions to the fight against COVID-19. Here are some faces behind promoting gender equality amidst the pandemic in West and Central Africa.

My name is Melvis Kimbi and I am currently serving with the World Health Organization (WHO) as an international UN Volunteer in Madagascar. I am from Cameroon and started my UN Volunteer assignment in October 2020, through the WHO/UNV Africa Women Health Champions programme.* 

I joined the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) as a UN Volunteer in November 2016. As a medical doctor, I was stationed in Rumbek, Lake State region, to provide medical care to both national and international UN personnel. I supported and coordinated efforts to prevent infectious and epidemic diseases and managed a team that handles daily services and emergency clinical and administrative duties, such as referral of patients, minor surgeries, mass casualty training, medical evacuation and first aid.

My name is Violet Mathenge. I am a medical doctor and epidemiologist, with more than seven years of experience in the clinical field, as well as in disease surveillance. I am a Kenyan national, currently serving as a UN Volunteer Surveillance and Emergency Risk Management Officer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Botswana.

A genuine desire to help in responding to COVID-19 challenges prompted Hugo Juárez to apply for an assignment as UN Volunteer Information Management Specialist in the Dialogue and Innovation Team of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Guatemala. From the start, Hugo noticed the differences between the scope of this role and his years of experience in the private sector: "I did not see it as me asking for a job. It was more like, 'I'm here to help you, tell me what you need and I will do it.'"

With the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines, Governments worldwide are challenged to ensure inclusive coverage during routine immunization. As part of the national immunization response, the Government of Sri Lanka and volunteers are gearing up to store large consignments of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as manage the large-scale and equitable distribution across the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic caught most of us by surprise. Across the globe, the spread of COVID-19 continues to cause death and disruption. It has pushed even the most advanced health systems to the brink. The full scale and impact of the pandemic, though far-reaching, still remain largely unknown. However, the rapid spread of the virus has reminded us of our interconnectedness and interdependency. Cooperation, coordination and collaboration have emerged as basic enabling factors for winning the fight against the pandemic.